


Anathema

by ferriswheeldiary



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Original Work, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bisexual Peter Parker, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Father Figures, Father-Son Relationship, Gay, Gay Male Character, Homophobic Language, Hurt Peter Parker, Illusion Technology, Illusions, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Manipulative Quentin Beck, Minor Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Original Character(s), Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Mess, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Spider-Man: Far From Home, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Quentin Beck, Quentin Beck Being a Jerk, Spider-Man Identity Reveal, Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie), Therapy, Villain Quentin Beck, gay relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:08:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24114046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ferriswheeldiary/pseuds/ferriswheeldiary
Summary: a·nath·e·ma/əˈnaTHəmə/noun1. something or someone that one vehemently dislikes.After the world was shocked by the alleged murder of Quentin Beck and Peter Parker was forced into hiding, it takes him quite a while to get his reputation back. Now in the spring semester of his senior year, the young hero faces resurfacing conflicts he never thought he'd have to deal with again, but in a completely different form.A new student at Midtown is thrust upon Peter with two objectives: gain his trust, then kill him. He runs into turmoil of his own, but the most important question is: where the hell did he come from?Post "Spider-Man: Far From Home" fanfiction with Simon's (the author) own original character.
Relationships: Canon Character/Original Character - Relationship, Peter Parker/Original Male Character, Tom Holland (Actor)/Peter Parker/Original Male Character(s), Tom Holland/Nick Robinson
Kudos: 10





	1. I. AFTERMATH

"I tried so hard to forget," Peter's eyes foreshadowed tears, "but I can't forget." 

A woman with a comforting visage who was about thirty years old shifted in her comfortable office chair that faced her patient, parallel to Peter who anxiously shook his leg on the couch. 

"Peter, the truth is: you're probably never going to forget. I have a lot of kiddos that have had traumatic things happen to them, and wish they could forget. As much as I wish I could wave a magic wand and make all of it disappear, that's not reality. You cannot control the past, but you can control how you view the past. Eventually, this trauma that you're experiencing is still going to be there, but you're going to be able to move on. Let's say you're watching a scary movie. Where would the movie seem less scary: in a dark theater or on a computer screen when you're at home in the daylight?"

"At home."

"Right. Eventually, your trauma will just be a computer screen, playing in the background in the daylight. It's still a scary movie, but you're not forced to watch it. Whereas, in a theater, you're kind of stuck unless you make your way out."

A tear slipped down Peter's cheek. He chuckled nervously and wiped the fallen tear with his palm. "Sorry, it's just – a lot."

"Don't be sorry. It's a lot to take in. Let's wrap up this session with something to destress, okay?"

"I have a question."

"Of course, Peter. What is it?"

He hesitated for a moment, averting his gaze before asking his question. "Do you think I'm a murderer?"

"Peter," The therapist exhaled quietly, almost at a loss, "I don't _anyone_ thinks that of you."

"People used to. It's only been a year and some change since I've gone to school. What if people think the same?"

"What if they don't?"

Peter didn't respond. The therapist asked if he was okay, and he simply nodded. "Let's just move on." He stated. The woman nodded. 

"What do you want to do today?"

"Deep breathing, please."

The pair did a few breathing exercises to end their session. Peter's mind wasn't focused on the exercise regardless of how many prompts from his therapist came to intrude. He just did a good job at hiding the fact that he wasn't paying too much attention. 

As they stepped outside to meet up with Aunt May in the waiting room, Peter's therapist asked him a final question. "Are you excited to see your friends?"

Peter smiled the best he could, nodding. "Yeah. It's just going to be hard adjusting to school again."

"Let me know how your first week back went next week, okay?" The therapist gave a friendly wave to Aunt May. She returned an equally sweet smile and wave. "I will. See you next week." He walked up to his aunt, letting her wrap her arm around him as they exited the clinic. 

"How was it?" May asked once they were on the road. "It was okay. I'm just not used to it."

"It's been a few months, Pete." She chuckled nervously. "Are you sure you're just not warming up to her as opposed to not being used to it?"

"No, no, she's really nice. I just," He sighed, "I don't like talking about what happened."

"You're going to have to face it head on eventually."

His jaw clenched. "Yeah, I know. Just not right now."

"You can't just keep avoiding it because it makes you uncomfortable."

"Not right now, May!" Peter snapped, tears welling in his eyes. The car went silent. "I'm sorry, I've got school on my mind right now, and I'm terrified.

May frowned, gazing at her distressed nephew for a split second before returning her focus to the road. Peter rested his head up against the window, holding back waterworks. 

"Do you want Thai?" She offered after silence filled the car once again, but Peter shook his head, closing his eyes afterward. She pulled into the a parking space for the restaurant anyway, leaving her nephew in the car anyway. She knew he would eat Thai any day.

Peter sat up and pulled out his phone, reading unread text messages from Ned. 

* * *

3:47 PM

_missed you so much dude! can't wait to see you_

4:18 PM

[ATTACHMENT: 1 IMAGE 375 kB]

_Bought a new lego set_

_you have to help this is not negotiable_

Peter smiled at the messages and replied.

5:52 PM

hi i missed you too!

ngl i was going to help you anyways but,,

omg deadass we should start at lunch in the aca deca room SHJSHSGXISHAH imagine

* * *

He locked his phone with the side button and placed it back in his pocket. He sat back in his seat, exhaling. He looked up to the rectangle of sky in between the ceiling of the car and the roof of the plaza with the Thai restaurant. 

"I wish you were here."

Just like that, May was back in the car with plastic bags of styrofoam boxes. "Thank you, May."

"What? This is for me. You said no." Peter made a face, and May laughed. "I'm just kidding. You're welcome. I don't care what mood you're in, you never say no to Thai." 

"Touché."

They drove back home and ate their dinner. Time seemed to pass so fast. Peter didn't want it to pass so quickly. Part of him wanted to go back to school so bad to spend his last semester in high school with his friends, but the other part of him never wanted to go out in public again. He was known as Spider-Man now, not just Peter Parker anymore. 

There had been plenty death threats from angry Mysterio _stans._ Regardless of how much time has passed, he believed that the world was still after him and wanted his head on a stake. Being exposed as Spider-Man to the world was the worst possible thing that could've happened to him. Now he had to go and face the world again with a (almost) completely new identity to the public. 

After showering before bed, he said goodnight to his aunt. She wished him sweet dreams and kissed his forehead. He sauntered back to his bedroom, deciding to sleep on the top bunk so all he had to stare at was the ceiling and count the little 'popcorns' on it instead of thinking about the horror that is high school. 

The next morning, Peter had the hardest time getting out of bed. Eventually, he slid down the ladder, landing on his feet. He plucked a casual outfit from his familiar closet, throwing it on with some dirtied converse. Same ol' Peter. Sort of. 

He made his way out of the door without breakfast, already five minutes late from his usual schedule. Waking up at nine for online school was much easier. Thankfully, he still caught the bus on time. He texted Ned.

* * *

7:09 AM

see you soon! barely caught the bus on time

7:12 AM

_duuuude that would've been so bad if you missed the bus no cap_

7:12 AM

ikr may would've beat my ass 

7:13 AM

_nah she's too nice for that_

_she would've grounded you though_

7:13 AM

true.

hey is mj with you? 

7:13 AM

_she said hi to me as usual but i don't where she is_

_get here first LMAO_

7:14 AM

be there soon

hope you still remember our handshake

7:15 AM

_like i'd ever forget_

* * *

Peter placed his phone back in his pocket, hopping off the bus to proceed his route to the front of the school. As he headed up the steps, a dreaded, but familiar voice called out to him. "'Sup, Spider-Bitch!" Flash was in his fancy sports car — this wasn't unusual. He had once praised Spider-Man, but clearly now could care less. New year, same Flash. 

A brunette silently snorted at the remark, but was quick to rush up to Peter. "Hey! You're Spider-Man, right?"

"It's Peter, but yes. I'm also late to class, so . . ." He went up the last few stairs, but the brunette stopped him again by grabbing his hand. "Wait—please." 

Peter stared down at the other. The male pulled his hand back. "School hasn't even started. Just, listen to what I have to say, please." 

Peter sighed. "Okay." He gestured for the boy to continue. 

"Look, I know you're probably going through a lot, but I wanted to let you know that not everyone is against you at this school. Trust me."

"Who even are you?"

"Keaton. Nice to meet you."

"Why do you care about how I feel, Keaton?"

"I don't know. Just figured you could use a friend, and me being new around here, I could use one too."

"I've got plenty friends, thank you very much."

"Why are you being so uptight? I'm just trying to be nice to you."

"I didn't ask you to! Leave me alone." Peter turned to continue walking. 

Keaton stood in the same place, weight shifted on one leg and his arms crossed. He huffed and extended his arm. He swiped on a pad on his forearm, then whispered into it. 

_"Dad, this is going to be way harder than we thought."_


	2. II. BRAINCHILD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quentin Beck is alive and scheming. God help Peter Parker.

ONE MONTH BEFORE 

HIDEOUT MANOR, N.Y.

"Sir," A female robot voice echoed, "Sir, the base of your illusion is ready." 

"Huh?" Quentin stretched, pulling himself off a pile of saliva that spilt out of the corner of his lips. He touched the damp pillow at the edge of the velveteen couch. "Janice!" A woman from an afar room rushed to the lavish living room. 

"Everything okay, Quentin?"

He threw the pillow at her and the wet side landed on her chest. She suppressed a look of disgust upon inspection.

"Wash that for me, will you?" He stood up from the couch, watching Janice scurry to the laundry room, and made his way to his workplace. "Good evening, Q.I.A.N.A, darling, what d'ya have for me?"

Q.I.A.N.A. was Mysterio's own artificial intelligence, standing for: Quentin's Intelligent Artificial Nerd Assistant. He wasn't as good as Tony with acronyms. 

"The base of your illusion is ready. Would you like to see?"

"Hell yeah! Let's see it!" 

A holographic model that looked similar to a store mannequin revealed itself once a few drones circled themselves, then vanished. Quentin celebrated with a few obnoxious claps and a triumphant, "WOO!" 

"All that's left is customization, emotional input and intellect input." Q.I.A.N.A. stated. 

"Will! William, get in here!" The timid older man rushed in from his bedroom and stared in awe at the model. "It worked? It worked!" He laughed and Quentin wrapped his arm around him. 

"You are a genius, you know? Now that the _brat's_ back, all I've gotta do is make this model look pretty and send it off into the Parker's vicinity. It'll kill 'im, and the sudden death will be unsolvable because we can just get rid of the illusion lickety split! It's revolutionary, William!" Quentin put his hands on his shoulders with the biggest grin. William blushed at the praise. "Thank you, brother. I told you that I wouldn't let you down."

"You sure didn't. Okay, go relax. You've earned it." 

William exited the workspace and Quentin got to work. He sat down on a chair, customizing the model like it was a Sim on steroids. He was up until two in the morning at least inputting physical appearance and emotion codes for things like interests and to make sure that his 'child' wasn't an empty husk. He wanted his illusion to be able to gain Peter's trust in order to kill him discreetly rather than causing a scene and suddenly disappearing. That would cause havoc, and well, for once, Quentin didn't want to cause it — at least for the majority that isn't Peter's immediate contacts like May and his friends. With everyone hating him for so long, everyone would be okay with his death, right?

Upon completing customization, he would let the choices render overnight and finally get some much needed sleep in his bed. 

_NOW RENDERING: Keaton_illusion.rndr_

_PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: action!target: PARKER, PETER BENJAMIN_

After having a meeting with his team and making sure his new human illusion which he personally named Keaton Arcanum (meaning _mystery_ in Latin) Beck and making sure his own bedroom was in order, he assigned Guterman to be Keaton's 'father' in place of Quentin to divert suspicion. Guterman knew how to create a story and make it believable in no time at all, so if the staff at Midtown asked questions, he would know exactly what to say. 

Keaton was skilled in computer science (for Quentin's benefit), and was programmed to be even more intelligent than him with illusion technology. He would be projected with two drones at all times, but would be out of view with everyone else unless his father made them show. His armlet that rested on his forearm would be like a mini iPad only with the power to control drones and remotely create illusions. There would be a direct line to Quentin in it, but of course, Keaton would have his own cellphone.

The team had been planning this out for months. Previous homeschool grades? Forged. Shot records? Forged. The application and any other forms that Midtown High needed for Keaton to be enrolled was taken care of. The only thing he needed to was take a required exam to see if Keaton would be the right fit for the school. He would pass that with flying colors eventually. Quentin just needed to 'wake him up' first. His son was a fully functional teenager — on trend, slightly defiant, and the perfect amount of _quirky_. He was just — lonely. He had no friends yet besides his father and the team. Quentin hoped he wouldn't make too many, though. His job was to kill Peter indirectly, not _actually_ raise a teenager.

On the Mysterio side of things, Quentin would be able to command Keaton wherever through his stream of consciousness. He would hear his father's voice in his head. When he'd bring it up eventually, Q would just tell him that he was schizophrenic. Janice would pose as his 'psychiatrist' that just happens to also work for his father. Keaton wouldn't question it, right? It made sense. Sort of. 

Quentin had complete control over Keaton. He just wouldn't know it. It was the most sadistic, but groundbreaking scheme that he ever created. 

There was only one thing left to do: activate Keaton. The team gathered in the workplace to see the result. 

"Q.I.A.N.A, activate Keaton." Quentin prompted.

"Activating: Keaton_illusion.rndr." 

The boy materialized. He blinked and looked around.

"...Why're you all staring at me like that?" Keaton chuckled. "Must've zoned out."

The villain could not believe what he was seeing with his own eyes. Keaton stepped off the platform, and patted his dad's shoulder. "I'll be in my room. Love you. Let me know when the pizza's here." He simply walked off to his bedroom, immediately knowing where it was in the mansion. 

The team was speechless, but silently celebrated once the teen was gone. 

"Guterman, be ready at 6:00 in the morning tomorrow. Victoria, order the kid some pizza. I've got some father things to take care of." Quentin laughed as he scurried out of the workplace, leaving his team in utter shock.

"You heard him, Vic." Janice interjected. "Order the kid some pizza."

* * *

Quentin went upstairs to Keaton's bedroom, knocking on the door. 

"Come in." The teen sat up and took off his bluetooth headphones, pausing his music with the side. 

"Hey, kid."

"Pizza's here?"

"No, not yet, but I wanted to, uh . . . talk, if that's okay."

"Yeah, sure. What's up?"

The new father settled onto his son's bed. "You know why you're going to, like, real school, right?"

"Yeah. Peter stuff."

"Yeah, but what exactly?"

"Gain his trust, kill him discreetly, yada-yada."

"Mhm. Good. You've got your priorities in order."

Keaton rose a brow. "I always have. Peter Parker is a dead man walking. He tried to kill you."

"You remember that?"

"Jesus, Dad, that was only a year and some change ago. Of course I remember. I was so scared."

Quentin was baffled by _what_ he created. "It's okay. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. Certainly not with Peter dead. Then, in due time, you can take over and make a Mysterio comeback."

"That's the plan." Keaton smiled and rested his head on his dad's shoulder.

"Listen, Guterman is going to drive you to school tomorrow. He's going to be your dad on paper and will go to your school things and such, but whatever you do: do not say your last name unless you're asked for it by an adult. Especially with Peter."

"Why couldn't you just let me go by Guterman as my last name instead of risking it with Beck?"

"I forgot about that, but I'm sure there's plenty of Becks in the world, right?"

Keaton sighed, rolled his eyes playfully, and lied back on his bed. "Goodbye, dad."

"Okay, okay. Go to bed early tonight. You've got to be ready by 7."

" _Seven?_ "

"Yes, it's regular school, kid. You've got to take the stupid test thing for enrollment." Quentin stood and made his way to the door. Keaton groaned in dismay. 

"Night, dad. Love you."

"It's still early, but night, kiddo."

* * *

Time passed quicker than expected. Soon enough, it was morning. Quentin seemed to forget that he had a child now and didn't wake up in time. However, Keaton and Guterman were up bright and early. The teen made his own breakfast, then grabbed his backpack from his room. Janice had bought a bunch of school supplies prior to his activation. 

He was driven to the school and taken inside with all of the paperwork ready. Those in the office were excited for a prospective student. Anyone could tell that this office didn't deal with discipline that much. They yearned for interaction.

Legend has it that Keaton had the highest score on that 'stupid test thing', passing Peter Parker by a point. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the second chapter. Please leave comments or kudos if you would like me to continue so I don't waste my effort and creative juices on something that nobody wants. Obviously, this isn't completed, so I will be updating periodically. Thanks for reading!
> 
> Simon


End file.
